one spiritual woman exploring life, motherhood, and sometimes food

Posts Tagged ‘cloth diapers’

first thing this morning i decided to give up fear for lent. i am not a practicing christian (or anything else) but i seem to be inspired by a lot of christian women and all this talk about abstaining for lent has spoken to me on some level. i just didn’t want to just think of something for the heck of it. a nice long talk with flash last night led me to see with some clarity that now is a good time for me to give up fear. not the healthy kind that keeps you from doing stupid things but the unconscious kind that gets in the way of love, trust, and joy in day to day life. i am letting go of fear and taking hold of leaps of faith. i can’t tell you how good it feels. so good.

also today, sunshine and diapers on the line. (hello march):

seeded oat bread rising:

two pots of tea (tea for a cold and chai):

super snack plate for mama:

a few minutes sitting in the sun watching sand play and working on my latest knitting project:

i have been using disposable diapers. i got sick. then i got sick again. and then again. and the laundry got totally out of my control. so i bought a bunch of disposable diapers and decided i’d go on a “sposie vacation” and catch up on laundry and all the other things i needed to do.

sometimes i have loved it. less laundry. more time to get other things done. not caring how muddy, dirty, insanely filthy the pea gets as she plays outside.

other times i have hated it. the smell of sposies makes me cringe, the way they feel all fat and goopy when they get full, the way her poop explodes out of them sometimes, the way i have to put them in the trash.

i’ve still be using cloth wipes. a girl can’t go completely over to the other side. and i think, as i watch the sposie pile dwindle, we will have our baby girl back in her cloth within the next day or so.

but it seemed like i should tell the world. cloth diaper addict, purist, worshipper, me — in sposieville.

before i started using cloth diapers i researched all over the internet and i read about what to buy, how to wash, how to wash, how to wash, how to fold, how to wash, over and over again worrying that i had to somehow get it before i started doing it. then suddenly, i took a leap of faith and just bought a few pocket diapers and used them and tried washing them a few different ways and eventually i did get it. through doing it i got it.

then the same thing happened all over again when i wanted to try using wool. i read all over the internet, i asked the cloth diapering wool using mama i knew a million questions, i fretted and hemmed and hawed and thought it would not be for me. and then, i just decided to buy some wool and try it and see how it went for me. it was not love at first try. it truly was not. but within a month i was hooked and i have not looked back. when i fell in love with wool i had two in cloth diapers so i amassed quite the stash. today, i took pictures of most of it for any of you who think it might be fun to ogle.

before i roll out the pics i will tell you a few things:

most of my wool is interlock, so with my super snazzy washer i do often wash it in the machine and then lanolinize

at the bottom of this post i will put some links to information about how to use and care for wool

i am trying to find the balance between not detailed enough pictures and too many pictures, if i messed up please forgive me.

if you want a close up of anything let me know

i will also include links to where i got my wool from at the bottom of the post instead of linking each piece as i list it.

if you want me to talk about how i personally care for my wool i’d be happy to do that too.

as i was walking out of the supermarket this morning i passed a man who was about sixty walking in. stuffed under his arm was an old, ragged, canvas bag that gave me pause. it was going to be the bag he used for his groceries. the pause it gave me was one of wonder and joy – because in other ways i would never have pegged this man as being someone who would be bringing his own well worn bag to put his groceries in. it got me thinking about why i started using cloth diapers. the reason is that i like to reuse things. it is good for the planet, it makes me feel good, i just like it. i am a dedicated cloth grocery bagger, most of my furniture is hand me downs, i am known to eat the food my kids reject, i have a cabinet full of glass salsa and tomato sauce jars, you get the idea.

i want to take a moment to say that i hold no grudge against parents who do not chose to cloth diaper. just like most of life’s choices i think we should all make our own educated decisions and assuming that the information was reviewed and a choice was made we shouldn’t judge others. that is just my way.

when the bean was about six months old i took the time to review the information i could find and make a decision that i felt best fit our family, and we crossed our cloth starting line. i never guessed i would have the stash i have now, i certainly didn’t need it (and don’t need it) in order to effectively cloth diaper and be happy that i am doing it. once i decided i wanted to cloth diaper, and that i was going to do it without a service, i simply had no idea which system to try so i took a leap of faith and bought some pocket diapers. specifically, some bumgenius one sized pocket diapers. at the time that i purchased mine they were making the 2.0, they now make the 3.0. these are what you see pictured in this post.

my bg’s (as i learned to call them on the diapering boards) were fantastic and they held up through most of beans diapering and have been used on the pea at times as well (with some elastic needing replacing). one thing i liked about them was how easy they were, how they fit him through several sizes, how they were very easy for other non-cloth diaper fans to use, and they were nice colors. i also had it in my mind that i would use the same diapers for our second child and so i thought it was fairly economical.

in truth, i probably could have used these on chickpea for the most part. but, by the time she came along i was well hooked into cloth diapering and i had discovered that for a variety of reasons i preferred another type of system – using prefolds or fitted diapers under wool.

i sold some of my bg’s and a fair amount of my babywearing stash to help me get started in the world of fitteds and wool and by the time pea was born and i had two in cloth it was what i was using. i still used my bg’s for overnight diapers, and occasional baby sitter care, but other than that i had switched camps.

some of the reasons i switched, in no particular order:

the microfiber inserts that are generally used with pockets irritate my hands (when i use pockets now i stuff with prefolds)

i really liked the idea of using all natural fibers on my kids bums – cotton or bamboo and wool achieved that for me

once i started using wool i was totally obsessed with how cute it can be

there are some fiercely cute fitted diapers out there too

i like not stuffing pockets anymore

i love wool!

i am a sucker for fluff…

if you are a cloth diaperer, how did you chose your system and what is it that you love about it?

i mentioned a little while ago that i was thinking of doing a few posts about cloth diapering. today i was hanging a load up to dry in the sun (my line is down due to fence repairs so i have the collapsable stand working for me) and i was suddenly inspired to take a few pics and start sharing my love of cloth here on my blog. my nikon failed me (need to deal with that) so i grabbed my iphone and took a few pictures.

perhaps they don’t look like much to you but for me seeing them there laid out in the sun fills me with happiness. because i love my cloth diapers. i have, i confess, treated myself to a nice little stash, and i intend to get organized to share some pics of it this week. some real stash shots. or, as barely knit commented on another post my cloth diaper porn.

truth be told, i even love my wipes. aren’t they pretty?

so, dear readers and curious minds alike. i will alert you that barring me feeling the need to let something more important or woowoo grace these pages, the next few days will be filled with cloth diapers. how i started, what i use now, stash shots, favorite diapers, and, as i warned steph, some serious love for some very adorable wool. so here is your chance to pick my brain on a topic i have researched well and some stuff i have been using for years. do you have any questions about cloth diapers or cloth diapering that i can answer? i’ll answer anything, anything at all. just leave a comment or send a note.

see you tomorrow. let the fun begin!

woowoo mama cloth diaper addict keeping it in check most days but still with a pretty decent stash.